General Writer's Block thread

Hey, I need help with a story centering around native Americans.

First thing to know about Native Americans: They are not a monoculture. There's a whole bunch of different nationalities that get lumped into the term "Native American," each with their own traditions and customs depending on where the culture developed.

Now, having said that, there's two things you can do: Learn more about the Native American group(s) you want to feature in your story, and Learn more about writing stories in general. You'll have to do both, but I suggest picking one to start.

Unfortunately I can't be more specific because the post itself wasn't very specific.

um, I actually do know that and I'm well aware of differences with all of them. I just need to clarify.

sorry for the mistake.

edited 26th Nov '16 10:29:27 AM by ewolf2015

Would you mind restating what exactly you need clarification on? Your post doesn't make any sense without more details.

edited 26th Nov '16 11:11:03 AM by randomdude4

well. i'm trying to (i wish not to sound racist, although i'm back) maybe specific tribes that have these qualities:

• range is within the southeastern states
• are spiritual (spirit guides and what have you)

Also have a few questions to add

• is there such as thing called "magic" in some cultures? Or something similar to it.
• what is a spirit guide exactly? And where did the idea come from?
• is there actually a concept of no good and evil some cultures?

For each of these questions, specific examples are appreciated.

Heh, you've asked a whole Ph D's worth of questions, there, my freind. You are going to find that the answers are not clear cut. Most of the tribes ( though not all) practised something Western anthropologists might label as a kind of shamanism. Various people had what could be called visions, in which one common theme was the appearence of an ancestor spirit in the form of an animal. This entity might offer advice, instructions or information, which would later prove to be accurate and useful in waking life. This is a very over simplified description, however, and I would advise you to pick a tribe (for example, the Cherokee) and look up references on their ritual beliefs.

edited 26th Nov '16 11:48:37 AM by DeMarquis

Something besides the Cherokee. Maybe caraway?

A tribe that there is a fair smount of research on. Try the Seminole

kay, thanks

I noticed that a lot of people here are writing stories with prominent minority characters or elements/relationships that would be considered atypical. There's an LGBT thread for characters going, and it seems like the polyamory one is taking off as well. I find it interesting, honestly, and I seem to be in the minority here by not really having any of those elements in the story I'm writing.

It's not really a qualitative observation (i.e. I'm not saying it's good or bad), but it is rather fascinating from a quantity perspective; I wouldn't have expected so many people to focus on those elements than what I'm seeing here. In fact I more mean it as a good thing that people are experimenting with unconventional elements of storytelling, barring of course the rare self-righteous attitude some people adopt when talking about their implementation of those aforementioned elements.

Well, for a good chunk of the folks writing about those things here, it's an extension of their personal experience on some level. This forum is unusually diverse and tolerant when it comes to sexual orientation, perhaps because immersing oneself in fiction is a common way for queer people to deal with and relate to a world that is frequently hostile towards them, whether consciously or not. Having the vague sense that you're different from a very young age increases the likelihood of embracing the fantastical and niche enthusiast subcultures, and being a fan in turn increases the likelihood of wanting to give back through writing.

yep, representation is awesome.

Edited by Chaoraiser360 on Sep 27th 2021 at 4:35:35 PM

I will tell you right now that if anyone tells you to "f*** off," they'll have the moderators to answer to. We put a lot of work into being civil here on TV Tropes.

I'm not aware of any restrictions on posting links. Go wild!

Unfortunately I can't give much in the way of criticism right now because 1) my brain is fried from writing all last month, and 2) I'm stretched way too thin as it is. But I wish you the best of luck getting the insight you need!

edited 3rd Dec '16 12:06:14 AM by AwSamWeston

Edited by Chaoraiser360 on Sep 27th 2021 at 4:35:03 PM

If you're going to get negative feedback here, it's almost certainly in the interest of helping you grow as a writer rather than to make you feel bad. Everyone starts out new to the craft and everyone has to make mistakes to learn from them. This isn't a mean place; people aren't always 110% positive, but it's meant in good faith. We're all writers here, after all.

With that out of the way: Welcome, Chao. :3

Edited by Chaoraiser360 on Sep 27th 2021 at 4:34:33 PM

Here's something here from me: A story which is a fusion of anime in general and Star Wars, it's called Earth Warriors.

Sounds appealing to you?

It already exists, and it's called Gundam. Or Legend Of Galactic Heroes.

Seriously though, anime encompasses so many different genres and so many styles, what you are suggesting can encompass a lot. Are you trying to basically try and emulate the general feel and scope of Star Wars, but with a more Animesque look? Or is it something else entirely?

edited 3rd Jan '17 3:00:50 AM by handlere

A couple days ago I realized that my preferences for media consumption lend a lot more toward the pulpy fiction of the 40s and 50s, or the quirkiness of anime. This is useful, especially given there's a chance that Hollywood's about to swing the pendulum toward the "romantic" end of Romanticism Versus Enlightenment.

I don't know if this is the right thread for it because I'm basically ranting, but I must do it. Please don't report me to the mod. Just ignore this post if you don't like reading a rant. This post is the continuation of my previous post at #1798

So, because my story have to pander to national pride. I make some changes, but another problem show up. Apparently, my story is morality too grey for the public. I made the representatives of my nation too grey and the representatives of the enemy nation too grey. *sigh*

My story is also apparently too morally complex or something like that. They said the public just want something simple. They also said I'm too forceful and selfish. In other words, I'm forcing my ego on the reader. Yup, I should devote my work to the reader's enjoyment, I don't consider the reader's feelings, I should focus on making the readers feel good. They read to escape reality or whatever. So troublesome...

Isn't a book whether it's a novel, a comic, or whatever is the result of an author's ego? Isn't it supposed to contain a piece of my ego no matter how small? What kind of reader don't expect to feel the ego of the author of the book that she write? If that's what they want, don't you think that they should just imagine something? Why bother reading?

I can't even recognize my own work. *sigh* To make things even weirder, the editors say they don't think it will sell, not that they dislike it. In fact, the editors like it and think I've got a good sense as a writer, but they can't publish it because it isn't going to sell. So, they hire me to work as one of them instead. Yeah... I'm an editor now... I already have another work, but I could use the extra money, so yay? This is really weird and hilarious at the same time.

I haven't visit this forum for a few months because of that. I will write about my work as an editor here if anyone here is interested to hear about them.

edited 27th Jan '17 8:46:05 PM by Advarielle

If you want it to be a certain way, why not keep it that way? Editors give advice, but they can't change things for you. Unless it's being traditionally published I guess.

"If that's what they want, don't you think that they should just imagine something? Why bother reading? "

Because imagining everything in detail is hard and its much easier to have a feed of fine-tuned pandering to pour directly into the brain.

From the context it sounded as if these weren't the kinds of editors who could be ignored, so definitely not self-publishing.

I'm not self-publishing my book like nrjxll wrote. If I'm self-publishing, I don't have to deal with this kind of stuff. Those guys don't give a damn about what I write. They just want my money. Besides, I believe my work is good enough to be published. Unfortunately, it isn't enough. Not to mention that there are some stigma about self-published books here like: How bad is your book that no one is willing to pay to publish it besides yourself?

Yeah, can't agree more. I have read some of these pandering books from the ones that pander to national pride to male or female masturbatory fantasies. And it's simply bad. It feels like I'm reading some sort of masturbation log than a literature. I suppose I should project myself into the definitely-the-author's-self-insert-protagonist and masturbate together with him or her. Ugh, I feel sick. One of the worst things about is that the author doesn't even feel like he/she is pandering. That is how he/she genuinely feels and loves to write. I mean come on.

That is a bad mindset to have as a writer. As an editor albeit a new one, I have read several new works that are just like that. Most of these works are almost as bad as those craps they call LN. (I know, I know. There are one or two good one, but those are exceptions, not the norm.) And the authors are always some guys with ego much larger than their name or skill who spout crap like: "Only an experienced editor with large name can know how good my story is." *sigh*

BTW, if anyone interested I can tell you guys some of their stories. They are hilarious. Don't worry about confidentiality. No one sane would want to publish them.

Some of those work that aren't that bad are sadly also not that good either. Just some corny and melodramatic teenage fantasies. At least I can work with that. And the authors also tend to be much easier to work with.

edited 28th Jan '17 9:13:25 AM by Advarielle